4 
Large and Small Holdings. 
of the resolution passed by the Central Chamber of Agriculture, 
and, what is more, facts and figures prove that where small 
farms are required, and where they are most suitable, there 
they generally prevail ; but they also exist in other districts, 
where their necessity, from a farming point of view, is not so 
obvious. 
One point in favour of small farms must not be overlooked. 
In some districts the soil is so rocky and the surface so uneven 
that cultivation on a large scale is impossible. If such land is 
to be tilled at all, the holdings must be small, and therefore the 
produce which results from this kind of tillage is a clear gain to 
the nation. So after all, the physical formation of a country is 
the main factor in determining the size of its holdings. Where 
land is capable of being divided into good-sized arable fields, 
large farms prevail ; but where hills attain a considerable eleva- 
tion and the land in the valleys is broken and rugged, only 
small farms can be formed. Small fields in a great measure 
necessitate small farms, and therefore it may be said, that the 
division of land in rural districts has generally followed the 
laws of nature. Near centres of great population, where there 
is a ready sale for milk, poultry and vegetables, small farms 
should economically abound. But even near great cities the 
character of the soil influences the size of the holdings. For 
instance, Norwich, the biggest town in East Anglia, is environed 
by light land, and is therefore encompassed with large farms, 
and it is not until the soil becomes heavier and better that 
small holdings are to be found in any number. 
Taking it for granted that during the last fifty years the 
tendency has been to amalgamate small holdings, it must also 
be admitted that this increase of large farms has taken place in 
those districts which are best adapted to the development of 
agriculture upon a large scale. There seems no fear that this 
increase of large farms will continue, but rather that the demand 
for smaller holdings will be satisfied wherever it exists. This 
demand may arise from the diminished capital of those large 
farmers who find that they can no longer cultivate their ex- 
tensive holdings, but it is much more likely to come from the 
number of men with small capital, who think they can combine 
farming with some other trade or calling. It is this class of 
small cultivators that is generally most successful. The two 
Royal Agricultural Society's prizes for small farms, awarded at 
the Norwich Meeting, were both gained by men who partially 
followed other avocations ; and the fact that the first-prize 
winner adopted steam cultivation, grew his mangolds 3 feet 
apart, and bought large quantities of artificial manures and" 
feeding-stuffs, shows that he at least had adopted on his small 
